Being mobsters is the background to the story, not the story. And that is the main problem of the mob-centered stories on soaps, no actual story being told. There can't be a point if there is no story, there can't be character development if there is no story, and there can't be audience investment if there is no story.
What exactly was the purpose of the Santos family on Guiding Light? A little history here, in the beginning I was bored stiff by the Santos saga. It was so telegraphed that Danny would fall for his brother's "killer" that I had no reason to care; I knew where it was going. I wanted to be woken up when it got interesting. Instead, it got nauseating and I thought my head would explode from the inane obstacles Danny and Michelle went through. The writers were so busy keeping up with the cliches that they forgot to inject any kind of credibility, humanity, and more importantly uniqueness to it.
And it only got worse frankly when Danny "left" the mob because he's still a violent jerk. And then there is Tony, but that would take another column. Anyway, I digress; my point is that years later, I'm still not aware of why they ever came and why they are still here. Danny and Michelle have their fans which I accept but still don't understand, but why have the crime elements continued? Was the entire point of the story to get Michelle a love interest? Okay, well she's got one; can the rest of the story take a hike now? I'm serious, where was this story going besides that?
Was the whole idea to have a whole family of criminal, destructive, temperamental Neanderthals show up and corrupt the moral fiber of kids we watched grow up? Why did they keep Carmen as long as they did? Her constantly showing up, shooting people all the time, and coming back to life was not only pointless but also if it hadn't been so painful, it would have been comical. Sure, with stronger writers I'm sure there are things that could have been salvaged. Better writers could have gotten rid of Carmen sooner, they could have utilized Father Ray, and they could have not had Tony almost rape Marah. But what it really needed was something more than just the idea of a mob family and love interests.
